Fifth generation baker

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In 1877, master baker Emil Richard Gertz (Uffe Gertz' forefather) took over the King's royal field bakery in Nyborg, Denmark. The bakery was originally founded back in 1760, when famous fairytale writer Hans Christian Andersen would drop by. Gertz Danish Bakery

Uffe Gertz is a fifth-generation baker in the Danish town Nyborg. His bakery, which was founded in 1760, functioned as the Danish king’s field bakery until Uffe Gertz’ forefather took it over in 1877.

With the help of the local municipality, Gertz and his partner Frank Nielsen, who is in charge of a bakery in another Danish town, Kolding, got in touch with a promising Chinese business partner.

As it turned out, Ye Jiazhi from Beijing Maidaren Food & Beverage Management Co. was the perfect match for the Danish bakers. Ye has founded many food related businesses in China such as bakery chain WithWheat, which has several stores in the Chinese capital. CGIG, a firm headed by a Chinese person living in Nyborg, has also joined the venture.

With the signing of the contract last December, the way was paved for a Danish bakery in Beijing.

Chinese bread revolution

Almost a year has passed since the contract was signed to open the Gertz Danish Bakery in Beijing on November 16, and the owners have been busy locating a great location in the hip Beijing area of Sanlitun, decorating the bakery to give it a Danish feel and getting other practical things done. Furthermore, they have also been looking into how to offer their Chinese customers authentic Danish baked goods.

“The Chinese have a lot of really good food, and there is also bread in China. I hope I won’t offend anyone by saying that they do not a have a lot of good bread,” says Gertz.

“Now, you will mostly find sweet, light bread with little taste. We want to introduce the Chinese to rye bread, sourdough and wholemeal. We stand for tasty and healthy bread that is good for your digestion.”

Gertz anticipates a bread revolution in China during the next five years.

“There is a rapid development going on in the fields of healthy and organic food in China. The Chinese travel more and get to taste different kinds of foods,” says the baker, who hopes that his Chinese business can benefit from these ongoing trends.

Imported rye flour

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Danish open sandwiches will also be on offer at the Danish bakery in Beijing. Gertz Danish Bakery

The Danish bakers are convinced that they can teach Chinese people to love the slightly sour taste of rye bread. In order to do so, they have to be able to bake rye bread in China that lives up to the standard sold in their two bakeries back in Nyborg and Kolding.

Gertz couldn’t source the required flour types in China, so now he and Frank Nielsen have obtained all the required permits to import rye flour, rye kernels, wholemeal wheat and other ingredients from their home country.

In addition to the original Danish rye bread – baked with Danish ingredients – Gertz Danish Bakery in Beijing will also serve other traditional foods from the Nordic kingdom, such as open sandwiches, warm lunch dishes and cakes. “Our cakes are sweeter and have more taste than Chinese cakes,” Uffe Gertz notes.

The two Danish master bakers will take turns working with their 25 new Chinese colleagues in the Beijing bakery, and later on they hope to open more Danish bakeries in China.

“Our intention is to become a high-end brand in the country.”

Whether Danish baked goods will sell like hot cakes, remains to be seen. That is why we have agreed to have another chat with Uffe Gertz once the bakery has opened.